Typewriting machine



Feb, 25, 1936, w. A. DOBSON 2,031,593

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1933 ATTO -Y- Patented Feb. 25, 1936 PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITING MACHINE William A. Dobson, Wcthersfield, Con11., assignor to Underwood Elliott Fisher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application July 29,1933, Serial No. 682,783

5 Claims.

This invention relates to hold-down means for typewriting machines or the like, and deals particularly with detachably securing the machine to the baseboard of a carrying-case.

The invention aims to provide a simple holddown organization which may be readily manipulated for quickly securing or releasing the machine; which has its holding parts arranged so that they cannot be jarred loose when engaged in holding the machine; which is organized to minimize the transmission of machine-noises therethrough to the baseboard; and which takes up little room in the carrying-case, so that the latter may readily be used for other purposes than machine-transportation.

By setting the machine upon'the baseboard, the parts of a two-part catch, one part on the machine and the other part on the baseboard, are brought together to secure the machine at its rear side to said baseboard.

Supplemental to the two-part catch-device, which has certain novel features of arrangement, there is provided on the baseboard, and preferably at each of the opposite sides of the machine, a compactly arranged plunger-bolt projectable to interlock with the machine, the bolts being retractible preparatory to setting or removing the machineupon or from the baseboard.

The bolt may be a plunger fitted into a sleeve mounted on the baseboard. The sleeve-wall surrounding the plunger may have a cam-slot inclined relatively to the plunger-axis and through which may extend a pin projecting transversely from the plunger, the latter being rotatable withiin the bore of the sleeve. Said cam-slot and pin, by swinging the latter one way or the other, cooperate to quickly project the plunger beyond the sleeve-end into machine-holding position or to quickly retract the plunger. The pin extends outside of the sleeve-wall and thus forms a manually-operable tumbler by means of which the plunger is readily shifted, the plunger-bolt-assembly being so disposed that the tumbler may be manipulated by reaching down at the side of the machine and so that the tumbler swings in the most convenient direction, that is, for and aft alongside of the machine.

In the machine-holding position the plunger engages a part of the machine-frame, preferably by entering a hole in the side of said frame and which hole may have a bushing of cushioning material to minimize the transmission of machine-noise to the baseboard by way of the plunger-bolt.

The cam-slot in the plunger-sleeve may be of such inclination that a fractional turn 01' the plunger, by swinging the aforesaid pin, is effective to retract or project the plunger. The camslot may have at one of its edges a notch into which the pin may be settled when the plunger is projected to engage the machine. A spring which bay be housed in the plunger-sleeve may co-operate to hold the plunger in such settled position. The plunger is thus held against being jarred out of machine-holding position. An additional notch or dwell may be provided at the cam-slot to detent the plunger by means of said pin, in retracted position.

The plunger-bolt, by means of said pin, is easily and quickly manipulated and moreover takes up very little room in the carrying-case. The bolts may be disposed near the side edges of the baseboard so as not to interfere with the general utility purpose of the carrying-case.

The machine, provided with the usual front and rear pairs of cushioning feet, may have one pair of its feet resting in sockets on the baseboard. Said sockets serve to quickly locate the machine so that the bolt-receiving holes in the machine are aligned with the bolts. One footsocket may be incorporated in each plungerbolt-assembly, and accordingly a base-member, whereby the plunger-bolt sleeve is attached to the baseboard, may be extended beyond the sleeve, the extension being formed to include the socket. Thus the bolt-assembly and the included foot-socket may be secured to the baseboard by the same fastening means.

The aforesaid two-part catch-device may also serve to locate the machine relatively to the plunger-bolts and to this end there are two catches spaced along the rear side of the machine. The catches have a novel arrangement for locating the machine on the baseboard both laterally and fore and aft and at the same time cushioning the machine to prevent the transmission of machine-noises to the baseboard.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a. sectional side elevation of the baseboard taken substantially along the line 1-4, Figure 2, and showing details of the novel holddown means.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the baseboard diagrammatically showing the typewriter-frame and the cushioning feet. The view also shows the rear catches and the plunger-bolts, parts of the latter being broken away to illustrate details.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the plungermachine-noises to the baseboard bolt-assembly and the adjacent portion of the typewriter-frame engaged by the bolt.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section showing in elevation, the plunger-bolt-assembly and the adjacent typewriter-frame portion.

Figure 1 represents a typewriter I9 having a pair of rear cushioning feet I I and a pair of front cushioning feet I2 resting upon a baseboard l3 of a carrying-case which includes a top coverportion I4. Each of the rear feet I I is secured to the machine-framework by a screw I8. In the illustrative arrangement, the front feet I2 are each secured by a screw I! to an inwardly-extending flange of an angle-bracket I8 secured to a side plate I9 of the typewriter-framework. The side plates I9 are spanned at the rear by a cross-member 20.

The cross-member 20 has projecting rearwardly from its lower edge a pair of tongues 2| spaced apart as in Figure 2, each tongue forming the machine part of a two-part catch whereby the machine is held down upon the baseboard. The baseboard part of each catch includes a tongue 22, Figure l, which may be bent forwardly from an upright abutment-piece 24 which has a base flange 25 for attachment to the baseboard by rivets 26. The front face of the abutment-piece 24 has a pad 21 of cushioning material, such as soft rubber, held thereagainst by means of prongs 28 projecting forwardly from the abutment-piece 24. It will be seen that, in the act of setting the machine upon the baseboard, the machine-tongues 2| are readily slipped under the companion tongues 22 presented by the baseboard, the machine being pushed rearwardly until the rear edge of each tongue 2| abut the cushioning pad 21. This locates the machine fore and aft of the baseboard. Each tongue has an envelope 23 of cushioning material, such as soft rubber. For locating the machine laterally of the baseboard by means of the two-part catches at the rear, each machine-tongue 2| may have an upstanding projection 38 to abut the outer lateral edge of the cushioning envelope 23 of the companion baseboard tongue 22.

Supplementing the described rear catches, for releasably locking the machine upon the baseboard, the latter carries a pair of plunger-boltassemblies 35, Figure 2. Each plunger-boltassembly includes a cylindrical plunger 36 having one end movably fitted in an end wall 31 of a sleeve 38, the main bore of said sleeve being of a diameter to fit an enlarged head 39 of said plunger 36. A spring 49 surrounds the plunger and is compressed between the shoulder formed by said head 39 and the end wall 31 of the sleeve. The peripheral wall of the sleeve 38 has a camslot 4| through which extends transversely from the plunger, and fastened to the latter, a pin 42. Said cam-slot 4| and pin 42, upon the swinging of the pin 42 one way or the other co-operate to project the plunger 36 outwardly from the sleevewall 31 or to retract said plunger. In its projected position, the plunger 36 engages the side member I9 of the typewriter-frame, a plungerbolt-assembly 35 being mounted adjacent to each side member I9 as indicated in Figure 2. For receiving the plunger 36 each side member I9 has an opening 44, Figure 4, having a bushing 45 which fits the plunger 35 and which by reason of its being made of cushioning material, such as rubber, serves to minimize transmission of the taching the plunger-bolt-assembly t0 the base- I3. For at-' board the sleeve 38 may have fastened at the bottom thereof by screws a flange-plate 41. In case it is desired to locate the machine independently of the rear catch-device, the flange-plate 41 may, as indicated in Figures 2, 3 and 4, be extended and formed to include a socket 48 for one of the front feet of the typewriter. Rivets 49 thus serve to secure both the socket 48 and the plunger-bolt-assembly 35 to the baseboard. The sockets 48 may be formed by turning up the edges of the flange-plate as at 43, Figure 3.

Figure 2 shows the plunger-bolt 36 at the left as being in retracted position, the pin 42 having been swung to withdraw the plunger 36 from the bushing 45. The plunger-bolt at the right of Figure 2 is in effective machine-holding position in which the plunger 36 is entered into the bushing 35. It will be understood that the plungerbolt is shifted to either position by swinging the pin 42 in appropriate direction. To secure the plunger 36 in its machine-holding position the cam-slot 4| may have a notch 5| into which the pin 42 is set as indicated in Figure 4. The plunger spring co-operates by reason of its outward pressure to hold the pin 42 seated in said notch 5|. The spring 48 also obviously cooperates to yieldably maintain the plunger in retracted position as indicated by the retracted plunger at the left of Figure 2, the pin in this instance being seated by the pressure of said spring at the outer end of the cam-slot.

The illustrated typewriter has an outer mask or casing 52 which covers the main framework of the machine. The lower edge of said outer casing may be below the top of the plunger-boltassembly, which, as indicated in Figure 4, may reach under said casing, the latter having therefore a suitable cutout indicated at 53, Figure 4, to clear said assembly.

The bushing in the framework side-member I9 may project outwardly as at 54, Figure 4, so that in case the foot-sockets 48 are dispensed with, possible contact of the side-member I 9 with the end of the sleeve 38 is cushioned. The bushing 45, which may be made of soft rubber, has a forced fit in the side-member I9 to keep it in place. The inner end of the bushing may project somewhat beyond the inner face of the sidemember I9, and its resiliency causes it to expand as at 55, the expanded portion acting in the nature of a flange co-operative to keep the bushing in place.

The baseboard may have upturned flanges 56 at its edges, the top cover I4 resting on the upper edge of the flanges. It will be seen in Figure 2 that the plunger-bolt-assemblies 35 are so disposed at the baseboard that the operator may easily reach down between the side of the machine and the adjacent baseboard-flange 56 to manipulate the plunger-shifting tumbler or pin 42. The plunger-bolt-assembly 35 is also so disposed that said pin swings in the most convenient direction, that is, fore and aft.

It will also be seen that the hold-down mechanism is neatly arranged so as to present no impediment to the use of the carrying-case for general utility purposes.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a machine of the character described, and a baseboard on which said machine rests, said machine having an inner frame supporting the operating mechanism, and

also having an outer decorative mask with sides serving to conceal said frame, a machine holddown device including a barrel mounted on said baseboard, a bolt movably mounted by said barrel, the latter extending outwardly in the direction of the bolt-axis from one of the sides of the mask, said mask-side being arched at the barrel, so that the inner end of said barrel faces a portion of said inner frame, whereby said bolt, projectable beyond the inner end of the barrel, may engage said inner frame-portion, and a handle, extending transversely from said bolt through an opening in the wall of the barrel outside of the mask, so as to be accessible for engaging said bolt with said inner frame-portion or retracting it therefrom, said inner frame-portion having a covering of sound-deadening material, whereby transmission of machine noises to the baseboard by way of said bolt is minimized.

2. Hold-down means for a machine of the character described mounted on a baseboard, said means including a tongue projecting rearwardly from a rear portion of the machine, a member rising from said baseboard and having a face facing the rear edge of said tongue when the machine is positioned on the baseboard, said member having a tongue projecting forwardly over the tongue of the positioned machine for holding the latter down, a resilient cushion fastened to said face to abut said rear edge of the machine tongue to gage the position of the machine, said member having prongs projecting forwardly from said face for holding said cushion, and a resilient cushioning pad between said tongues and fastened to one of the latter.

3. Hold-down means for a machine of the character described mounted on a baseboard, said means including a pair of laterally-spaced tongues projecting rearwardly from a rear portion of the machine, and a pair of members, one for each tongue, rising from said baseboard, and each having a face abutting the rear edge of its tongue to gage the position of the machine fore and aft. each member having a tongue projecting forwardly over the companion tongue of the positionedmachine for holding the latter down, one of each pair of opposed tongues having an ear for abutting a lateral edge of the other tongue, to thereby laterally interlock the machine tongues with the baseboard tongues and secure the rear part of the machine against lateral displacement.

4. The combination with a machine of the character described and having feet, and a baseboard, of machine hold-down means including a mounting on the baseboard, a machine-holding plunger-boat retained in said mounting, said mounting being located on the baseboard so that the bolt will be substantially outside the confines of the machine, the bolt being projectable inwardly to engage a part of said machine, said mounting having at its base an extension forming a machine-locating socket for one of the machine-feet, and means for securing the mounting including the socket to said baseboard.

5. In combination with a baseboard for a machine of the character described, said machine having an inner frame supporting the operating mechanism, and a decorative mask having sides to conceal the sides of said frame, means for 10- cating said machine on the baseboard so that a margin of the latter projects beyond a side of the machine-mask, a mounting, a bolt working in said mounting, said mounting being mounted on said baseboard at said margin to extend outwardly from the mask-side, the latter being arched at the mounting, so that the bolt may be projected, transversely of said mask-side, into engagement with the inner frame, and means associated with said mounting and bolt, and including a finger-piece operable by a manipulative movement lengthwise of the mask-side, for projecting or retracting said bolt.

WILLIAM A. DOBSON. 

